The Core Beliefs of the BKWSU
The teachings of the BKWSU plays on already accepted ideas in eastern religions whilst simultaneously teaching that they are not of any existing religion and are superior to all. The basis of their beliefs is the idea that God incarnated into their founder to teach them alone, thus making them the elite souls of the world. They also believe that they are the future deity princesses of Heaven, that the world is about to end and that world history repeats identically every 5,000 years.
The BKWSU have beliefs that are unique to them in every way. Notably this includes the deeply held and dominant notion that world history repeats identically every five thousand years. They refer to it as ‘the Cycle’. In essence, they say that every 5,000 years God comes and purifies the world which is impure and corrupt, through the efforts of His ‘special, long lost and now found children’. The result is a new Golden Aged world in which all those ‘special’ souls will live as deities. According to the amount of effort those special souls made, they will become the kings and queens of Heaven. This usually means the BKWSU seniors.
In order to transition from this old, impure world to the new, golden aged world the world as we know it must be destroyed. A key element of BKWSU belief is that the world is about to end. Over the next 5,000 years the world becomes impure and corrupt as it descends through the Silver, Copper and Iron Ages. (These ages are common to Hinduism, but Hindus neither mention 5,000 years or identical repetition.) At the end of the 5,000 years, God Shiva comes again, and the same special souls will join Him again, exactly as they did in the previous cycle. This is predestiny taken to the extreme. The very dangerous implication here is that if a member fails, they fail forever. This is the concept that killed Ranjana.
A member of the BKWSU will also have accepted, believe and have faith in the following:
- - In 1936 God Shiva incarnated into the body of Dada Lehkraj to begin the process of purifying the world through His knowledge and the ‘power of yoga’.
- God Shiva renamed Dada Lehkraj as ‘Brahma’. Dada was thus anointed the ‘number one’ child of God and His primary instrument for the creation of the new Golden Aged world of Paradise. All His other true children, i.e.: those that have recognised that Shiva is teaching them through Brahma, are anointed as Brahma Kumars and Kumaris (from now on referred to as BKs) – the sons and daughters of Brahma. This extrapolates as the ‘true Brahmins’ and is a play on India’s highest caste.
- all BKs’ are the true children of God and the only true children of God. All others are like step children.
- the knowledge that Shiva gives, in conjunction with the ‘wisdom’ of Brahma, is the absolute Truth. This ‘knowledge’ is called ‘gyan’ and was delivered as sermons and transcribed. Referred to as the murli, it is the foundation of BK beliefs and lifestyle.
- that by having ‘yoga’, that is, by communing with God Shiva in meditation and “in every action”, a BK will become pure and free from the burden of their karma.
- a BK must make extreme effort for yoga in order to become pure before the ‘preordained Destruction of the world’. Otherwise there will be severe punishment meted out by Shiva in His role as dharmraj and one’s status in the new Golden Aged Kingdom will be less.
- the world will be destroyed by nuclear war and natural calamities. The first prediction was 1950, then 1976 and so on. This date has been revised a number of times and now no year is designated. Senior teachers simply play on the line “Destruction is close”/”the time is near” etc. Most Western adherents are unaware that Dada Lehkraj was committed to a 1976 end date for humanity (and all Westerners that he had earlier stated 1950) to the point he was to give up all the wealth of the organisation to the Indian Government if he was wrong. He was convinced by senior desciples not to do so however – he still maintained this conviction until his death.
- all children of God, His “Godly students”, are “numberwise”. They are not equal. Some are definitely considered to be better than others. This will be demonstrated by their commitment, their sacrifice, their renunciation (of the material world, friends and family, careers etc), understanding and hard work in the name of Shiva. They will then incarnate in Heaven numberwise – those with the highest number become the Emporers and Empresses and members of the Royal Families. Those with low numbers become cremators.
- world service, or “Seva” is pure karma. By performing pure karma one increases their eternal fortune and their number, or ranking, in Heaven. The purest karma is to dedicate oneself to the development of the organisation and to increase membership. This translates as saving souls from the current world of hell and teaching them yoga so that they can become a deity in paradise also. Subsequently every member will seek to cooperate with the development of the organisation in some way, which is the basis of the organisations’ success.
-we are all eternal souls who are the form of consciousness and reside in the brain: “I am a soul and this is my body”. God is also a soul, but the Supreme Soul who is eternally pure. His name is Shiva. This time, referred to as the ‘Confluence Age’, is the only period in history in which the soul can be purified by the Supreme soul. Effectively, nothing else matters except the effort to become pure. As all humans are impure they are either to be indoctrinated into the same belief and lifestyle, or to be avoided due to negative influence. This includes ones own immediate family. This referred to as detachment and is essential if a BK is to accumulate the necessary credits to get to heaven and live as a deity prince or princess.
-as this completely impure world is about to be destroyed one must break all attachments and give up this material world. There is no purpose in being ambitious or having worldly goals. This includes careers and professional lives. And family and friends are simply the product of attachment and past karma. Therefore they must be renounced. One must dedicate their minds to Shiva exclusively if there is to be any hope of becoming pure and “karmateet” (free from the burden of karma /past actions). All knowledge or information of the “old world” is completely impure because it is the creation of impure human beings. Therefore a BK would typically avoid reading books, papers and magazines, watching television and movies, or allow themselves to be influenced by outside sources.
This is just a brief overview of their beliefs. It is more complicated and subliminal than this. Ultimately a true believer will have divorced themselves from the world they knew before they committed themselves to the Brahma Kumaris. They will ‘surrender’ to God and therefore, by default, to the will of the seniors. After some years the failure of promises to be fulfilled will begin to stress these beliefs – but it is self belief that will crack first. Then the descent into confusion, depression and generally years of dysfunction begins.
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By Lokila, June 18, 2009 @ 10:20 am
What about the children, brought into this organisation by their parents? They are far too young to reflext on such matters as individual freedom. Let alone they are able to compare those BK teachings with Hinduism or other religions/cults. By the time they are adults, the brainwashing is complete. They never finished high school, now nothing about reality, the world which surrounds them.
They are simply exploited and abused to ‘serve’ the system. Specially in India: hard work, no privacy, no access to media.
And the adults? Are they all capable of having balanced thoughts, revisions and intellectual debates by themselves about all these matters? No. Because this is all about emotions, about the deeper levels of our subconsiousness were we are the most vulnerable.
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By brahmakumaris.info, August 16, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
The Brahma Kumaris do not teach “Raja Yoga”, an ancient and traditional spiritual path.
Typically of their deceit, the Brahma Kumaris teach their own unique practise, based on spiritualism, which has its roots no further back than the 1950s when they first introduce the concept of “God Shiva” entering into, possessing and speaking through their founder and medium Lekhraj Kripalani.
It is to this “spirit” that the Brahma Kumaris encourage their followers to surrender their minds, bodies and wealth. It is this practise which they call “Rajyoga” or “Raja Yoga”.
The Brahma Kumaris are not Hindu. They use the language and some outward forms of Hinduism in order to promote entirely different, spiritualist beliefs. Increasingly, these beliefs are being dressed in New Age or executive coaching type language in order to attract new individuals.
However, underneath these, the core beliefs as presented in the channeled messages called the Murlis, which they protect secretively, remain relatively unchanged … unaccountable historical revisions aside.
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By Edward, March 18, 2010 @ 6:06 am
I am glad to say that I perceived from the first moment I met Brama Kumaris back in the 80s that there was a strange subterranean current of deception.I went to an introduction to meditation meeting in London and came away quite perturbed by the atmosphere and the strong sense that I was being misled by what I was being told and it was different from what I observed.The few males I met seemed to be emotional castrates and not so much in touch with their feminine side so much as completely identified with it.I had the distinct impression that it was wrong to be male in this organisation and that maleness had no good inherent in it.As a psychotherapist specialising in hypnosis I noted the hypnotic like induction{or guidance} we had in sampling meditation.I left thinking that there seemed to be nice but duped people there but that as an organisation I felt deeply uneasy about it.To coin a phrase I would not trust this organisation an inch.Everything I have subsequently learnt over the years has confirmed by first and powerful perceptions about it.
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editor Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 8:36 am
I think there are many more of us who wish we had observed what you did and stayed away! Interesting observation that it is totally wrong to be a male – psychological castration and feminisation of all males who are obviously only male because of past – and very bad – karma. Twisted to say the least.
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By Edward, March 25, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
Thanks for your comments.I might add that many years later in a different location I went to an open meeting and asked a few questions of one of the leaders,an Indian lady.I do not now remember the question, nor the answer.I do remember that I continued to question her and it was obvious to me that she surrounded herself with an impenetrable air of spiritual superiority in relation to me.Ultimately she actually patted me on the head implying as she did so that{there,there} one day when I was grown up I would understand such deep matters.I thought that she was outrageously self deluded and was torn for a moment between confronting her patronisation of me or laughing outright in her face at the absurdity of it.In the end I did neither , concluding that this was more than just a quirk on the part of one person,rather something that reflected a sample of the underlying values of the organisation.I was also absolutely certain that any confrontation{no matter how mild} would ultimately only serve for such an individual to confirm the truth and worth of Brahma Kumaris and my lack of truth and worth.In short any comment that I made would hold up no mirror to what I saw plainly,instead be proof of my lack of light and desperate materialism.Such attitudes are circular,self serving and ultimately self deceptive.How sad that peace should be bought at such a price and yet prove attractive to some.
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By Chad, October 31, 2010 @ 5:09 pm
Hi,
I am currently attending classes and murli’s at a BK centre here in Canada. I value alot of the psychological teachings that do root out alot of negative behaviours, the needless attachments, negative influence my own mind can have on myself. I have some serious issues with the whole cycle of time and 5000 years repeating identically. Can someone tell me with some irrefutable scientific proof how this can or cannot be. I’m on the verge of committing myself to this organization because I came into it a depressed and broken soul and now have more confidance than I ever have. I feel it has made a genuinely positive improvement to my life but struggle with some of the core beliefs… and then I read a site like this which rocks my faith and has me questioning what I’m doing to myself. Can I take some and not all? Is there even any truth to self-realisation? I joined looking for enlightenment and now I’m confused….
little help!
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JK - Married to daughter of BK Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Hi Chad
There are some ultimate truths of this world. There are some things that are true as we can observe them, test them and prove them. Over the last 200 years, humans have made huge advancements into the understanding of biology, chemistry, and ultimately physics. The understanding and use of these laws have sent man to the moon, and built the modern world.
One very true concept in chemistry is something called isotopes and radioactive decay. some elements* have a few different versions of themselves, and some of these versions are radioactive (meaning some of the element will disappear at a measurable rate). Halflife measures the time it takes for the anount of element to be halved. Carbon has a radioactive version called Carbon 14. When carbon is 5,730 years old, the amount of Carbon 14 is halved. we can use this to date items between 50,000 and 60,000 years old, and therefore can be very confident in that things in the earth are older than 5000 years. Combined with what we know about the formation of continents, natural wonders like the grand canyon (which must have taken a long time and cannot possible repeat), the BK theory of cycles is the truest failing of the philosophy.
So what can you take?? Well the general life philosophies (that are similar to all religions) including selflessness, simple living, kindness, (though interestingly not charity) are all good, but basically only if you take just the cream of the concepts. However, there are a large number of other issues. They teach you that some are better than others, and can convince you that even your family are not good enough souls to even cook for you. They encourage you to become dependent on them, and hence unable to function normally without them. this leaves people with no choice but to conform.
The religion was formed using Human eyes (Lakhraj), basic hindu philosophies, and a number of strange ideas as written about on this site. There are huge inconsistencies in the theories like the random late appearence of Shiv (also the fact that Dada Lekraj is also refered to as shiv baba but apparently not worshipped). The dates for the end of the world have changed and are now conviniently “Some point in the future”.
The religion is run by power hungry people, who now try just to promote their religion and increase the size of their bank accounts (by members leaving money in their wills and giving time). They hide core beliefs from the public and put a face of peace over their teachings. (they interestingly enjoy a rather lavish lifestyle and experience a sense of worship from the followers)
My advice would be steer clear. Look at Bhudism, hinduism, or any other major religion. They all teach basically the same thing so long as you dont get to carried away with the traditions. BK just forces you with the threat of you dying soon and being chucked at the bottom of the “soul” pile unless you do as you’re told.
Good luck in whatever you choose to do. Read this site thouroughly though..and always ask questions.
JK
*(real elements in the periodic table, not “hindu” elements of fire (which is oxidation), water (which is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen), earth (which includes all sorts), air (mixture of gases), sky (mainly a vacuum). Also, BK’s teach that the earth always was, is and always will be.We know that this is not true.
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shantibhen Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
i attended bk classes and they have been a great help to me. i never felt coerced, duped, or deceived.i think this site is being run by a group of disgruntled ex-bks. every organization, i would say is not perfect. i keep my faith in God…and my classes at bkwsu have helped strengthen my faith in Him.
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filthy shudra Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Hi Shanti bhen,
yes there is much that a person can take benefit from the BKs. One criticism that some of us have with them is the way they use what someone finds useful as leverage, to convince them of “buying the package” – convincing them that you can’t have one part without the other, or that they are “the only shop in town” – to use their own phrase from the murli.
Take what you need, but then move on, don’t be caught by the honey trap. Even those who move on without becoming overly “disgruntled” often feel they stayed much too long with the BKs, because the culture and their teachings say those who leave are spiritual failures.
They will say otherwise to your face if you ask them, but that is PR, just listen to what is said in the murli or the classes, creating spiritual caste system, hierarchy and elitism.
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By filthy shudra, October 31, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
Hi Chad
The BK Raj Yoga technique can be very beneficial at first, especially for people who need to get their act together.
However there is a lot more to being a committed BK than first meets the eye, and the good stuff becomes quickly outweighed by the price demanded later. The good news is, unlike what their murli says, they are not the only shop in town.
My advice is to avoid any group that is implying you need to surrender or considers itself elite, and find paths that encourage your autonomy and individuality while teaching goodness of common humanity.
Try to see objectively and not just what you want to see. Maintain broad horizons- investigate and practice wholistically – for body, heart and mind – i.e physical activity, emotional nurture and philosophical/psychological understanding. BKs will shut this down and proclaim their “god” is the only truth and all normal human knowledge is impure.
Take care of yourself
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By Joel, November 6, 2010 @ 2:45 pm
Chad,
I agree with Filthy, an as an ex-BK myself, it is possible to touch your potential as a person without surrendering yourself to others. To subsume oneself to the will of another is the tradition of armies, churches, and gurus.
The healthiest BKs are the ones who never get sucked into the habit of obedience. It is the unhealthy ones who tend to get drawn toward dependencies and self-harming denial.
Some excellent ex-BK stories can be found at http://xbkinfo.com
As far as the 5000 year cycle goes, it’s a story like many others. The evidence doesn’t support it. As far as time, history and dating, it’s not the case (as BKs would tell it) that millions of educated and inquistive scientists are deluded in a shared trance.
The shared trance belongs to the BKs. Like many relationships, it can seem like sweet honey for years before turning sour. To be honest, shared trances are pretty much everywhere.
At present I would say that physical awareness of body and sensation is a grounding reality that helps me to avoid being sucked into others’ trances.
The BK community may seem nourishing to you right now. They can be. Along with Filthy, I would caution you that your inner voice, with its hopes, dreams, pains and doubts, will always be truer to you than any outside system of beliefs or values could ever be.
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